Ford Marks Countdown to 50 Years of Mustang

Ford Marks Countdown to 50 Years of Mustang with All-New Licensed Products

• A select group of licensees will produce merchandise and apparel to celebrate 50 years of continuous Mustang production

• Celebrating its centennial this year, Union, N.J.-based Schott NYC was one of the first manufacturers to sign on for the 50 Years licensing program, designing a one-off Mustang jacket to commemorate the occasion

NEW YORK, March 26, 2013 – The Ford Mustang will soon become the newest member of a very exclusive club – vehicles in continuous production for 50 years. To help mark this milestone, 50 companies will sell products including watches, T-shirts, model cars and more that celebrate the Mustang’s first 50 years.

“During its first 49 years of production, Mustang has come to evoke a variety of emotions in our customers – freedom, independence and being true to one’s self – just to name a few,” said John Nens, Ford’s team lead for Global Brand Licensing. “We’re marking this Mustang milestone with a distinctive collection of licensed products from select manufacturers that will carry the unique Mustang 50 Years logo.”

Click to download image.

All of the new merchandise will be easily identified with a custom logo that celebrates 50 years of Mustang.

The logo was crafted by Ford designer Michael Thomson. It features the Mustang’s trademark galloping pony in silhouette over the characters “50 YEARS.” This new icon has a clean and sophisticated appearance in either white on black or black on white. Only 50 companies will be licensed to create products bearing this special logo including high-quality die cast models, videogames, watches and apparel.

“We’re working closely with our licensees to ensure every item reflects the unique qualities of Mustang,” said Nens. “Like the car itself, we want our licensed products to convey an attitude of strength, passion and the highest quality.”

Over upcoming weeks and months, other Ford licensees will reveal a variety of Mustang products featuring the Mustang 50 Years logo to mark this special moment in automotive history and kick off the next 50 years of Mustang.

From the Tuskegee Airmen to 50 Years of Mustang

Celebrating its centennial this year, Union, N.J.-based Schott NYC was one of the first manufacturers to sign on for the 50 Years licensing program. Irving and Jack Schott established their company the same year Ford began producing the Model T on the first moving assembly line. Great-grandson and COO Jason Schott runs the family business today, along with his mother Roz Schott, president, and his uncle, Steven L. Colin, CEO, producing premium jackets, shirts and accessories.

During World War II, Schott NYC dedicated its entire capacity to making sheepskin bomber jackets, leather flight jackets and peacoats for American soldiers, sailors and pilots fighting overseas. Among those who went into battle in Schott jackets were the pilots of the 332^nd Fighter Group, better known as the Tuskegee Airmen.

“I can’t think of a better partner with whom to celebrate our 100th anniversary,” said Jason Schott. “We are honored to collaborate with an iconic family business that shares our commitment to domestic production.”

While the Ford Mustang is classically identified with the wild horse of the American West, it was actually named for the famed North American P-51 fighter plane, the preferred mount of the Tuskegee Airmen in the final year of the war.

Over the next half-century, the Schott Perfecto leather jacket figured prominently in iconic images of Marlon Brando, James Dean, Peter Fonda, the Ramones and Bruce Springsteen. Today Jay-Z, Lady Gaga and Adam Levine can all be spotted in Schott jackets.

Later this year, Schott NYC will reveal a limited-edition leather jacket celebrating 50 years of Mustang.

“The Mustang attitude of freedom and mobility is universal and enduring, and fans around the world will be honoring that heritage with numerous celebrations as we move forward,” said Steve Ling, Ford Car Marketing manager.

# # #

About Ford Motor Company

Ford Motor Company, a global automotive industry leader based in Dearborn, Mich., manufactures or distributes automobiles across six continents. With about 171,000 employees and 65 plants worldwide, the company’s automotive brands include Ford and Lincoln. The company provides financial services through Ford Motor Credit Company. For more information regarding Ford and its products worldwide, please visit http://corporate.ford.com.

Tough lifestyles need a tough truck

When creating the Ford Atlas Concept truck, Ford designers set out to balance function with style, and looked to several purpose-built designs for inspiration. Below is an illustration of some iterations for the concept vehicle, including a beautiful, aerodynamic bullet train, along with a more angled, boxier locomotive-inspired design. To learn more about the Ford Atlas Concept design, please click here.

Page 1 of 5 | Click to download full PDF

Raptor vs. Mars Rover

Raptor vs. Rover: The Ultimate Off-Road Faceoff (Infographic)

Two American innovators in go-anywhere capability – the 2013 Ford F-150 SVT Raptor and NASA’s Mars Rover Curiosity – face off in a unique comparison of awesome off-road hardware. Each vehicle represents the pinnacle of high-tech mobility on Earth and Mars. SVT Raptor meets Rover Curiosity to boldly go further.

DOWNLOAD: JPG | PDF

Ford Expands Environmentally Friendly 3-Wet Paint

Ford Expands Environmentally Friendly 3-Wet Paint Capacity by 50 Percent Globally in 2013

• Ford is adding four more plants to its network of manufacturing operations that use its industry-leading 3-Wet paint process; the process will be added to two facilities in the United States, as well as one in China and one in Spain

• Ford, which was the first automaker to implement the high-solids solvent-borne 3-Wet technology in 2007, currently has eight plants in North America, Asia Pacific and Europe that use the process

• The 3-Wet process has helped Ford reduce CO₂ emissions by 15-25 percent and volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions by 10 percent at those facilities where the process is used; similar reductions are expected at new 3-Wet facilities

Click to download image.

DEARBORN, Mich., April 3, 2013 – Ford Motor Company is expanding its industry-leading 3-Wet paint capacity by 50 percent this year, adding the environmentally friendly process to four more plants on three continents. The actions will reduce CO₂ emissions by an estimated 15-25 percent at those facilities.

Ford was the first automaker to implement the 3-Wet high-solids solvent-borne technology in 2007; it now has eight plants in North America, Asia Pacific and Europe equipped to use the process to paint vehicles. High-solids solvent-borne technology refers to a paint formulated to minimize solvents, resulting in a concentrated pigment and resin mixture with fewer volatile organic compounds (VOCs) released. The technology will be in place in 12 plants in 2013 then expand to additional facilities worldwide over the next four years.

“The 3-Wet paint process is significantly more advanced than conventional technologies in applying durable paints in a high-quality, environmentally sound and cost-efficient manner,” said Bruce Hettle, director of manufacturing engineering.

The 3-Wet process derives its name from three layers of paint applied one after the other prior to earlier coats having cured. The process eliminates stand-alone primer application and a dedicated oven required in the conventional process that was used before. Advanced chemical composition of 3-Wet paint materials allows for the three layers of paint – primer, base coat and clear coat – to be applied while each layer is still wet.

The 3-Wet technology process means Ford can maintain the top quality characteristics its customers demand, including long-term durability and chip and scratch resistance.

How it works

Enabling the 3-Wet high-solids solvent-borne paint formulation technology is a combination of process and product developed by Ford and its suppliers. Together, they have created a superior system that saves 20-25 percent of process time. Due to the eliminated stand-alone primer application and dedicated oven – both reducing the paint booth size – Ford saves electricity from the blowers that circulate massive volumes of air through paint booths, and reduces its use of natural gas needed to heat the air and ovens. This results in significant reductions of CO₂ emissions, as well as reductions in VOC compared to current medium-solids and solvent-borne paints.

Since the pilot launch at Ohio Assembly Plant five years ago, Ford’s global 3-Wet paint process has reduced CO₂ emissions by 15-25 percent and VOC emissions by 10 percent compared to either conventional high-solids solvent-borne or waterborne systems.

Locations where Ford is installing the 3-Wet process in 2013:

• Flat Rock Assembly Plant, Flat Rock, Mich.
• Kansas City Assembly Plant, Claycomo, Mo.
• Jiangling Motors Co. Ltd., Jiangxi/Nanchang, China
• Valencia Assembly Plant, Valencia, Spain

Locations with 3-Wet capability in North America:

• Ohio Assembly Plant, Avon Lake, Ohio
• Cuautitlán Assembly Plant, Cuautitlán, Mexico
• Michigan Assembly Plant, Wayne, Mich.
• Louisville Assembly Plant, Louisville, Ky.

Locations with 3-Wet capability in Asia Pacific:

• Chennai Assembly, Tamil Nadu, India
• CAF 2, Chongqing, China
• Ford Thailand Manufacturing, Rayong, Thailand

Location with 3-Wet capability in Europe:

• Craiova Assembly Plant, Craiova, Romania

# # #

About Ford Motor CompanyFord Motor Company, a global automotive industry leader based in Dearborn, Mich., manufactures or distributes automobiles across six continents. With about 171,000 employees and 65 plants worldwide, the company’s automotive brands include Ford and Lincoln. The company provides financial services through Ford Motor Credit Company. For more information regarding Ford and its products worldwide, please visit http://corporate.ford.com.

Mobile Growth Reshaping Post-Recession U.S. Auto Industry

Farley: Demographic Shifts, Consumer Fuel Economy Focus, Mobile Growth Reshaping Post-Recession U.S. Auto Industry

• Post-recession consumer and demographic shifts are reshaping the U.S. auto industry, as much if not more than the recent economic crisis

• Google and Facebook provide optimistic vision of “automobility” and mobile platforms

• Ford announces Personalized Fuel Efficiency App Challenge to bring new ways for consumers to learn more and further improve real-world fuel economy

NEW YORK, March 27, 2013 – While the great recession has fundamentally reshaped the automotive industry over the past few years, the real game changer may come from a new post-recession consumer mindset, demographic shifts and how automakers respond.

“Just as everyone is breathing a huge sigh of relief about getting back to something resembling normal sales levels, the real news is that the great recession has dealt a fundamental change to the consumer’s mindset,” said Jim Farley, executive vice president of Global Marketing, Sales and Service and Lincoln. “The question of whether consumers are returning to the market is settled. Now the question is, ‘What do they want and expect from us, and are we really ready to respond to what has just taken place?’”

Delivering the keynote address at the 2013 New York International Auto Show, Farley said the recession has profoundly influenced how consumers weigh purchase decisions and what they value in automobiles. He highlighted several key post-recession trends that will drive industry change – shifting expectations around luxury, the rise of women and Hispanics, a renewed focus on fuel economy, and the rapid proliferation of mobile platforms.

New luxury expectations

Luxury is no longer defined by price, size and exclusivity. “Now, people are breaking the association of luxury with a high price tag,” Farley said. “They are looking for luxury-level quality, performance and features in smaller sizes and at more reasonable price levels.”

He noted that a recent Luxury Institute survey found 60 percent of respondents expect a fully equipped luxury vehicle to cost less than $60,000 – significantly less than the former $100,000 price tag standard on many luxury models.

Another luxury trend: Small utilities are outpacing all other luxury vehicle segments for growth, with nearly a 60 percent jump in 2012 and a more than 200 percent increase in the past four years.

Women, Hispanics transforming the market

While baby boomers will continue to wield the greatest influence on the market for years to come, Farley pointed to shifts among women, Hispanics and millennials that are reshaping the entire consumer market.

Perhaps the most powerful trend is the rising consumer power of women globally. “More than 1 billion women will enter the middle class globally by 2020, and many will be buying vehicles for the first time,” Farley said.

Rapid urbanization is drawing women to cities all over the world, where they are trading agricultural work for careers in business and other professions. Women buyers are outpacing men for the first time ever in the United States.

Meanwhile, Hispanic households are becoming increasingly affluent with a 126 percent increase in U.S. Hispanic households making more than $100,000 a year. Hispanic households have a total net worth of more than $500 billion.

“As Hispanics buy luxury vehicles at a faster rate than the overall market, our brands must become more compelling, interesting and relevant than ever,” Farley said. “Millennials are also a significant opportunity, as they will start entering the family stage in record numbers during the next several years.”

The power of mobile platforms: Facebook and Google

Mobile devices are significantly reshaping every part of the automotive landscape – from marketing and shopping to the in-vehicle experience. “We need to learn to think the way our customers already do – they come first, they are in control,” Farley said. “Most of us recognize that mobile is a power enabler for customers, putting them in control of the shopping process and changing their expectations around connectivity.”

OpenXC Kit

As nearly one in seven people worldwide now uses a smartphone, this has significant influence on the auto industry.

Doug Frisbie, Facebook head of Automotive Vertical Marketing, joined the keynote, explaining that successful businesses in every industry – from automakers to software companies – put people at the center.

“Cars were a step change in giving society the ability to stay connected and engaged with the people they cared about,” he said. “The opportunity at hand today is not about phones or social software in cars – but about remembering that no matter the device, it’s the ability to connect that matters.”

Brendon Kraham, Google director of Global Mobile Sales and Product Strategy, joined the discussion as well, adding that the in-car mobile experience will soon be integrated into all the devices that connect a consumer’s life.

“Automobiles will soon become a seamless part of the consumer mobile experience,” he said. “Actually it will enhancethe experience. When your dash becomes a seamlessly connected screen, it truly becomes a more important, integrated part of your life.”

Fuel economy reigns

Perhaps the greatest cross-demographic shift since the recession is the growing consumer focus on fuel economy. Now the top consideration for vehicle purchases, fuel economy interest has resulted in a flood of claims and data that are starting to overwhelm the market.

“We now have a torrent of ‘best-in-class’ claims hitting consumers from all sides, and it’s starting to become noise,” Farley said. “We are seeing more and more confusion as consumers try to make informed decisions. Given the connectivity in our cars and the proliferation of mobile devices, we have the opportunity to give consumers better and more relevant data to understand what they can expect in on-the-road fuel economy performance.”

Harnessing the power of mobile platforms, Farley announced developers will have access to Ford’s OpenXC connectivity research platform as a sandbox to create and test innovative ideas in the newly announced $50,000 Personalized Fuel Efficiency App Challenge.

Many elements factor into personalized fuel efficiency including temperature, terrain, traffic conditions and individual driving styles. The goal of the challenge is to enable drivers to optimize their efficiency on the road and then share that information with others.

“We need to help customers understand the concept of personal fuel economy – based on their own individualized experiences – and give them tools to see, learn and act upon all the information available to know what to expect, how to improve, and even offer guidance in their shopping process,” Farley added.

# # #

About Ford Motor CompanyFord Motor Company, a global automotive industry leader based in Dearborn, Mich., manufactures or distributes automobiles across six continents. With about 171,000 employees and 65 plants worldwide, the company’s automotive brands include Ford and Lincoln. The company provides financial services through Ford Motor Credit Company. For more information regarding Ford and its products worldwide, please visit http://corporate.ford.com.

Fusion, Escape Achieve All-Time Record Sales

Fusion, Escape Achieve All-Time Record Sales; Ford Motor Company U.S. Sales Up 6 Percent in March

• Fusion delivers its best-ever sales month and quarter ever, with March sales passing 30,000 and quarterly sales passing the 80,000 mark for the first time in its history
• Escape posts its best-ever sales month and quarterly sales
• Explorer sales up 33 percent – best monthly sales since the current model debuted in 2010
• America’s best-selling pickup for 36 years, F-Series posts 16 percent increase as full-size pickup segmentation continues to improve versus year ago – best first quarter sales since 2007
• Ford Motor Company March U.S. sales up 6 percent – best sales results since May 2007, with cars even with year ago, utilities up 14 percent and trucks up 6 percent

Download Full Sales Release (With Tables)
DEARBORN, Mich., April 2, 2013 – Ford’s newest vehicles – Fusion and Escape – set all-time monthly sales records in March, driving Ford Motor Company’s best U.S. sales results since May 2007.
“Customers are buying our all-new Fusion and Escape in record numbers, and we are working harder than ever to keep pace with demand for these fuel-efficient vehicles,” said Ken Czubay, Ford vice president, U.S. Marketing, Sales and Service. “Full-size pickup demand continues gaining momentum, outperforming the industry for the third consecutive month.”
Ford Fusion posted an all-time record monthly and quarterly sales volume in March with 30,284 vehicles sold for the month and 80,558 during the first quarter – crossing the 30,000 monthly and 80,000 quarterly vehicle sale thresholds for the first time ever in Fusion sales history.
Escape had its best sales month ever with 28,934 vehicles sold. This 28 percent increase versus year-ago results marks the best sales performance since Escape’s launch 13 years ago. Escape also posted record quarter sales of 72,983 vehicles, surpassing record third quarter 2012 sales of 72,908 vehicles.
Explorer’s March sales totaled 17,509, representing a 33 percent increase over last year and its best monthly sales performance since the current model was introduced in 2010. Explorer retail sales were up 42 percent over last year, providing it best March retail sales performance since 2005.
With the industry’s March full-size pickup segment estimated to be up 15 percent over last year, America’s best-selling pickup, the Ford F-Series sales increased 16 percent to 67,513 pickups in March. This was F-Series 20th straight month of monthly sales increases and represented F-Series’ best March and first quarter sales performance since 2007.
The company’s overall sales in March were up 6 percent with 236,160 vehicles sold. Cars were even with a year ago, utilities up 14 percent and trucks up 6 percent.

# # #

About Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company, a global automotive industry leader based in Dearborn, Mich., manufactures or distributes automobiles across six continents. With about 171,000 employees and 65 plants worldwide, the company’s automotive brands include Ford and Lincoln. The company provides financial services through Ford Motor Credit Company. For more information regarding the company and Ford products, please visit www.corporate.ford.com.

Agent of Change: Ford Empowers Women and Saves Lives

Agent of Change: Ford Empowers Women and Saves Lives in Rural India through New Technology, SUV Capabilities

• Ford worked with public and private organizations on a pilot program designed to bring the right healthcare to the women and children living in an inaccessible part of rural India

• Sustainable Urban Mobility with Uncompromised Rural Reach, known as SUMURR, enabled childbirth for 41 women with high-risk mothers pregnancies, visited 54 villages, and reached more than 3,100 people to facilitate community awareness programs focused on maternal and child healthcare

• One key element of the SUMURR program was the Ford Endeavour, an SUV designed to handle the rough terrain of the region and powered by some of Ford’s most advanced technologies, which extended the physical reach of the healthcare services

• Ford researchers are applying what was learned from SUMURR and the use of OpenXC, an open-source technology, to create customized user experiences and accelerate the creation of apps for mobile health

 

CHENNAI/DELHI/DEARBORN, Mich., March 7, 2013 – Henry Ford believed vehicles like his Model T would improve lives through greater mobility. More than 100 years later on the other side of the world, a young Indian mother named Mageswari connects that vision with the birth of her healthy baby boy.

 

Mageswari, 19, lives in Kodamaathi, a tiny village in rural India where Ford Motor Company just concluded a nine-month pilot program that entailed helping pregnant women overcome geographical and technological barriers that prevented them from receiving adequate healthcare.

 

Called Sustainable Urban Mobility with Uncompromised Rural Reach (SUMURR), the program made use of a Ford Endeavour SUV that was designed to handle the most difficult of terrains and traverse areas previously unreachable by four-wheeled vehicles. After arriving in rural areas, health professionals used laptops and cell phones to connect with doctors and medical help in ways they never have before.

 

As a result, SUMURR made safe childbirth possible for 41 pregnant women; women like Mageswari, who – with the help of the Ford Endeavour – was able to make it to the hospital in just enough time to give birth.

 

“If not for Ford Endeavour, I might have tried to reach the hospital in a two-wheeler,” she says. “I do not know what might have happened.”

 

The intervention area of Kalvarayan Hills has a higher infant and maternity mortality rate compared with most other pockets of Tamil Nadu – a key indicator of the need for prenatal care in the region.

 

Mageswari’s situation illustrates the kind of need that was addressed by SUMURR, and that’s where Ford comes in, according to David Berdish, manager of Social Sustainability.

 

Berdish says Ford is acting as an agent of change for a better world by forging innovative public-private partnerships with government, academic institutions, nonprofit stakeholders and company resources to support positive social advancement.

 

SUMURR represents the overall direction of such efforts. In fact, Berdish says similar projects are already being considered for other regions around the globe, including other parts of rural India, one in the state of Gujarat, India – where Ford has a manufacturing plant – and also in China and Brazil.

 

“Ford Motor Company is not in the business of telemedicine, but between the vehicle and the technology we provide, we can make it better,” says Berdish.

 

Nine months of success

The pilot program began in June 2012 and concluded in February 2013. In addition to facilitating safe childbirth for the women with high-risk pregnancies, the program led to 27 temporary pediatric and gynecology camps being set up in remote villages. Such visits enabled about 1,600 women and children to receive much needed healthcare, including screenings for basic illnesses and immunization coverage.

 

SUMURR reached another 3,100 people with its partners as the program traveled to 54 villages to facilitate community awareness programs on maternal and child health issues.

 

“Leveraging our strengths in building vehicles and in democratizing technology, we have pioneered a unique effort to remove all hurdles to mobility for these women and have made safe childbirths possible for them,” said Joginder Singh, president and managing director, Ford of India. “SUMURR truly embodies Ford’s DNA of utilizing smart technologies for a better world.”

 

Coordinating with Ford on SUMURR were:

 

• Department of Health (DPH) of the Government of Tamil Nadu: Provided guidance and detailed statistics on maternal health and infant mortality; posed a challenge to Ford to pilot the program in Kalvarayan Hills, a region that is remote and hard to access
• U.S. Department of State: Provided guidance on program design and emphasized the need and role of healthcare for women
• George Washington University: Helped manage and track SUMURR
• IIT Madras Rural Technology and Business Incubator (RTBI): A nonprofit organization fostering entrepreneurship and focusing on technologies for rural India; developed and customized the mobile health applications used in SUMURR
• Reliance IIT Center of Excellence (RITCOE): Focuses on providing excellence in the areas of telecom infrastructure and energy; RITCOE was involved in developing solutions for SUMURR around OpenXC platform
• Indian Institute of Technology Madras: A premier academic institute that provides world-class education and research facilities in engineering and technology. It is officially recognized as an Institute of National Importance by the government of India and provides guidance to RTBI and RITCOE
• Hand in Hand India: A nonprofit organization with an overall mission to reduce poverty in India; Hand in Hand was the implementation partner helping to take the initiative to the community including training the government health workers with funding from Ford Motor Company Fund
• University of Michigan: Helped determine the viability of SUMURR prior to program launch

“SUMURR is an initiative to harness the potential of affordable technologies with innovations that address local contexts for sustainable growth,” says Ashok Jhunjhunwala, founder and co-chairman, RTBI and a professor of electrical engineering, IITM. “From voice-based local language interfaces to a portable system architecture that covers significant aspects of women and child healthcare, it is heartening to note that this program has not only democratized technology but is also finding acceptance and adoption of the technology with the rural mothers and healthcare personnel.”

 

Berdish says SUMURR represents how Ford continues to evolve and take on more responsibility when it comes to sustainable issues around the world.

 

Ford’s Code of Human Rights, Basic Working Conditions and Corporate Responsibility, for example, emphasizes the importance of providing proper working conditions and overall human rights for Ford, its suppliers and the communities in which it does business.

 

Ford continues to increase its presence in India, where it operates a vehicle and engine manufacturing facility in Chennai, has invested $1 billion for its second integrated manufacturing facility at Sanand, and is committed to bringing the best of global products and services to the country. Ford also plans to expand its sales and service operations to 500 locations across India by mid-decade, with a focus and commitment to empower communities across its existing and proposed facilities.

 

“Ford views accessibility to a better life as a fundamental human right, so being able to successfully help women and children in parts of rural India obtain healthcare is a perfect fit for what we’re trying to do as a company from an overall sustainable approach,” says Berdish.

 

“SUMURR exemplifies the power of partnerships; through this effort, we are leveraging the best of public and private sector resources to support enhanced healthcare in areas that are hard to reach,” says Gloria Cabe, senior advisor, U.S. Department of State. “Collaborative efforts such as this are game changers, helping to promote innovative solutions to enduring challenges.”

 

Rural India today, Detroit tomorrow

K. Venkatesh Prasad, senior technical leader for Open Innovation at Ford, framed the initial vision for SUMURR, working with Berdish, and oversaw its technology development.

 

Prasad is based at Ford’s Research and Innovation Center in Dearborn, Mich., where many of the company’s most talented researchers and scientists have helped develop revolutionary technologies such as Ford SYNC^® and EcoBoost^®. He says the mass-market applications of the kind of technology used in SUMURR are another benefit of Ford’s involvement.

 

For example, in some of the remote hilly villages where the Ford Endeavour was used, cellular phone signals were extremely weak or nonexistent.

 

As a result, researchers are developing a way to use the recently launched open-source platform OpenXC to create a local cloud housed in the Ford Endeavour. This enables nurses in the village to record and store crucial information about patients and transmit it when connectivity is available at a later time. Another new app could help in the timely communication of vital health parameters of the mother and enable hospital readiness while she is en route.

 

Prasad says that what Ford is learning about the technologies it developed for SUMURR, especially their performance under extremely demanding environmental conditions, is invaluable, and can potentially be applied to any Ford global technology development.

 

“SUMURR exemplifies how Ford is using its global reach to address regional issues and causes around the world and at the same time identify local social and technology entrepreneurs who we can partner with to further develop the kind of solutions that will shape our future,” says Prasad. “The fundamental aspects of what we did in rural India could very much wind up in the driveways of Detroit.”

 

A video about SUMURR can be viewed here.

 

# # #

 

About Ford Motor CompanyFord Motor Company, a global automotive industry leader based in Dearborn, Mich., manufactures or distributes automobiles across six continents. With about 171,000 employees and 65 plants worldwide, the company’s automotive brands include Ford and Lincoln. The company provides financial services through Ford Motor Credit Company. For more information regarding Ford and its products worldwide, please visithttp://corporate.ford.com.